August: The month of birthdays

This past weekend we packed up and headed to South Carolina.  Apparently, August is THE month for birthdays when it comes to Phillip's family and friends.  Phillip is scheduled to work every weekend in August, except this last one.  We decided to take advantage of this and head on down. 

Our first stop was a birthday party for Chris' niece, Carly.  Chris, for those of you not familiar, is Phillip's best friend...since diapers.  No lie.  Chris also had a birthday at the beginning of the month, but now Carly gets all of the attention.  We had such a good time catching up with everyone.  Carly is adorable.  We were surprised at how much she's grown since we saw her a few months ago.  I have been begging Chris to get married and have kids.  The McNairs make some pretty babies.  Carly is beginning to look exactly like her mama.  She's one of the most gorgeous babies ever.  We decided that since she doesn't live with us the best birthday present would be Melissa & Doug art supplies.  We even got finger paints for her to use on Uncle Christopher's truck.  Here's the birthday girl after the party (sleepy) with her uncle and mom.  Isn't she ADORABLE?!  I love those blue eyes!

After the party, we decided to go back to Aunt Diane's.  She was ready for the Pee Dee State Farmers Market, so she and I left Phillip to nap since his sleep schedule was quite messed up.  Now, I've tried to find comparable farmers markets around us, but they just don't exist.  I LOVE this place.  I loaded up on fresh cucs, squash, local honey from Pamplico, peaches, blueberries, homemade apple bread from McLeod Farms, etc.  Next time we're down the scuppernong grapes should be ready...we hope.  Those are free for the picking!  I had so much fun.  When we got back home I got to nap!  South Carolina is SO relaxing. 

Obviously Emma agrees.  It was post-bath, pre-bed time.  She was zoned.  The pjs are precious!

Phillip and Lee spent quite a few hours ignoring the rest of us and watching UFC.  Look at how happy Lee looks.  Quite disturbing, my friend!

FINALLY, Uncle Phillip decided it was time to play (conveniently before bed).  He became a jungle gym first. 

Then he started push ups with a 4, 5, and 10 year old on board.  They were intermittently watching A Bug's Life.  (Love the red face...nice P!)

You always have to work the arms.  Why not add a 5 year old for additional weight. 

It's always important to end a workout with a little cool down.  Look how happy the girls are with Phillip.  He's so good with little ones.

Cute Emma and Taylor decided to take a walk to the pond.  Gracie, of course, never far behind.  Apparently, she likes people her size. 

Emma wasn't too sure about Mason splashing around in the pond. 

I love this. Emma wanted the rocks.  Not sure why.  Lee was happy to oblige. 

Mason is a very patient dog.  Taylor, well, is not a patient little person.

Gracie does not do water.  At all.  Logan insisted that Gracie needed to swim.  Look closely, I don't think Gracie agrees with her opinion.

He took the pic, you'd think he would know to smile.  P.S. - Excuse the clothes.  You wear nothing nice to the pond.  I ended up getting quite soaked.  Lovely!

After the Stephenses went home, the girls took their baths and wanted to play Monopoly.  Phillip had loads of fun trying to explain to a 5 year old why she had to roll doubles to get out of jail.  The girls spent the night because Phillip's mom had her 40th high school reunion.  She broke curfew too.  We decided she was grounded this week.  (Mama Harris - you better stick to it or you get two weeks!)

Logan got bored waiting on Taylor to roll doubles, Taylor was tired of jail, so she began taking pics...of everything. 

I'm a great aunt.  Always teaching them the important things in life.  Obviously.

We had such a great weekend!  We want to wish a Happy Happy Birthday to Linda, Chris, Lee, Carly, and the rest of the gang!

And still we carry on...

I just realized that my lack of pictures is beginning to make this blog quite boring.  I will try to make up for this.  We are about to leave for a weekend of fun in South Carolina with Phillip's family.  I always have plenty to share after these trips.  

I wanted to update everyone on our current state of being post-doctor's appointment last Friday.  This past Friday was initially suppose to be the date we found out if we were expecting.  However, we knew going in that we were not.  Although I cannot say we were happy about not being pregnant, at least we didn't have to deal with the disappointment in the doctor's office.  God was definitely looking out for us there.  


We were able to spend our time constructively going over options with the doctor.  As much as I dislike most of the options, at least they are available to us.  We decided to stick with the course we are currently on for two more rounds.  Unfortunately, since the last round resulted in ovarian cysts and no little ones, I have to start taking an additional hormone along with a drug called Metformin.  I was none too pleased about this.  Phillip and I both told that doctor that we were aware of some of the long-term side effects from Metformin.  This drug is actually a diabetic medication, but when combined with clomid (fertility drug) it actually helps your body do what it should want to do naturally.  A few months ago I attempted taking the same thing, but after four days of what felt like a horrible stomach virus I digressed.  I researched it and it does cause liver damage if used long-term.  I will only have to continue taking it through the 13th week of pregnancy if anything results from this round.


This past round of clomid really sent us for a loop.  Apparently, it gives you all of the symptoms of early pregnancy without being pregnant.  Meaning I got to spend a lot of time proverbially praying to the porcelain god in our bathroom, crying over absolutely anything and everything, and being ridiculously tired.  Needless to say, neither of us are looking forward to adding two more medications and doubling the dosage of clomid this month.  


We are really hoping that everything will work out.  I have already started the Metformin again because my dosage has to be built up before I can start the clomid again.  Surprisingly, I get a little sick about an hour after taking it, but it hasn't been as bad as it was previously.  I have to gradually increase my dosage for the next two weeks (going from 500 mg to 1500 mg), so I really hope it continues as well as it has thus far this week.  

Other than the minor interruptions from medications, we are enjoying our month off!  I am sure that I will have lots of pictures to post from this month.  We are heading to SC this weekend, Phillip is working the other two weekends of the month, I am heading to Wilmington to visit Brandy and Will later in August, and then we get to spend the entire Labor Day weekend in SC with Phillip's family.  I love it when fall comes creeping up!  After this crazy hot summer, you better bet that we are more than ready for it too!!!


Prayer Requests:
*Phillip's work has him on 6 day weeks (approximately 60 hours) through the end of the month.  This wouldn't normally bother him, but the heat is really draining him.  Pray for safe keeping and lots of rest when he is at home.
*Drugs - My body doesn't like any of them and will typically display almost any side effect imaginable.  We are really hoping that despite the fact that medications are doubling and our prospects don't look any better now than they did months ago, I will react surprisingly well to everything I have to take.  
*Strength - This past round was tough because we both got our hopes up.  Although it was ignorant of both of us, it's tough to go through everything and not be a little hopeful.  Phillip has been amazing, but I often feel like he's the backbone for both of us.  I really want to be the support he needs because this hasn't been easy on him either.
*The Little Bean - I have gotten to the point where I don't have adequate words.  We just hope that he/she will know the Lord in an intimate way and long for a relationship with Him. We want to be a mirror to reflect that love to our child(ren).  


Until next time, thanks for the prayers and support. 

Organization 101

We have, on several occasions, cleaned out our garage.  When I bought this house one of the big selling points was the 2 car garage.  There are two garage doors, so when Phillip moved in the other side became his.  I believe I was crazy for assuming he'd use it for his truck.  I tend to stick to my side.  His has a one man boat, 4-wheeler, riding lawnmower, and almost anything else you can think any one man would need all housed on his side.

We were at Lowe's yesterday grabbing a few things.  We crossed paths with the organization department.  Anyone that knows me understands that organization makes my heart leap.  Anyone that knows my husband knows that he could care less.  Phillip said he knew where everything in his garage was (he found out this wasn't true when we began searching for one of his many tape measures).

Phillip picked out a bunch of Black & Decker cabinets, we ran home and measured to make sure they would fit on a wall, measured his tool box, ran back to Lowe's and began our journey.  I tried to bribe the Lowe's employees to come on over and help us put these up, but it didn't work.

This is how Phillip's side of the garage looked when we began.

 Here's the finished product. 

YAY!  The golf clubs, air compressor, lawnmower, and 4-wheeler obviously wouldn't fit in the cabinets.  Sorry the pictures are so blurry.  We FINALLY finished around midnight.  Phillip is quite proud of his newly organized garage.  (I believe I have converted him.)  It's nice, that feeling of accomplishment.

Eventually, we hope to get the floor and walls painted, but Rome wasn't built in a day.  We hope you all had a great weekend!